Thursday, September 13, 2007

Today's video recipe clips is so simple it's hard to call it a recipe. It's more like an anti-recipe. As you'll see below I just list the ingredients, no amounts or measurements. This is how 95% of cooking should be done. So many people would enjoy cooking more, and make better food, if they got there faces out of those cookbooks and just started cooking. They treat the act of cooking like some scientific procedure (by the way, this rant excluded delicate baked goods, so save your emails).

Recipes are great for what ingredients you may want to use, but should be treated as an idea-started, not some government mandated edict. Cooking times are also useful, so we'll look at those, but as far as following a recipe to the letter when it comes to amounts of ingredients, I say "use the force Luke." We all have an inner Chef that will guide us as we cook, without the shackles of the measuring spoons and digital scales. "Top potatoes with 1 tablespoon of minced chives" ….what?? If I see that Food Network "Barefoot Contessa" lady measure parsley to sprinkle on something one more time, I going to lose it.

I much prefer proportions to recipes. For cous cous it's one part stock to one part cous cous, for dressings 3 to 1 oil to vinegar usually works out nicely, etc. If you visited a professional kitchen a few things would jump out at you right away. How fast-paced it is, how much cursing is being done, and how few recipes you see. So, today's artichoke is a celebration of the non-recipe; trim some chokes, drizzle some lemon and oil, stick in a garlic clove, sprinkle on some salt, and roast until delicious. I expect some comments from new cooks saying "but we need the measurements because we are not as experienced as you." No you don't. Use the force. Besides how do you know yours isn’t going to come out better because you used a little more or a little less of something? Cook, taste, adjust, and enjoy.

*Bonus foodie points if you are the first commenter to tell me what horrible Chef error I made on the plate in the photo.

38 comments:

Paul M. GA
said...

I have a guess on what your error was. I am thinking that you put the garnish (I think it was parsely or a small sprig of rosemary) underneath what you were trying to garnish. I.E. Your Artichoke wasn't being garnished with Parsely. Your parsely was being garnished with Artichoke.

I'll give you partial credit. The horrible error, and very common with young cooks, is that I used a sprig of rosemary to garnish a dish that wasn't prepared using any rosemary! Never garnish with something that doesnt have something to do with the dish. Rookie mistake. I didnt use any herbs, so I shouldnt have use one on the plate. It conveys to the guest or customer that there will be some herb in the dish.

Chef John, I'm right there with ya on the the whole "sticking to recipes" thing. I use them as a suggestion and then do my own thing. It always makes me laugh when friends of mine who have cooked the same dish dozens of times, always haul out the recipe. Couldn't you adjust it a little? Discover something new about it? I love your roasting artichokes idea. I've always steamed, but at restaurants, love the roasted ones. I'll have to try it out when they are in season again. Thanks for the suggestion.

oh is the error that you didn't trim the outer leaves of the artichoke? by, the way whose hand was that closing the oven door, it looks much smaller than yours. It looks almost like a child's hand. -kary

No,you should not trim the large leaves. even the bottoms of those have some meat to eat after the long roasting. The error was explained in my comment above. Also, that was my sous chef (wife) closing the oven..good eye!

I can't wait to make this. The artichokes today at the supermarket looked mediocre at best, so I might need to make a special trip to Whole Food, i.e. Whole Paycheck to get some decent looking artichokes.

I just found this page and have fallen in love with this recipe. tHe only problem is that here in Alabama artichokes are $4.00 each for one less than 1/2 that size. Deep sigh of regret. Guess I'll wait till next year...

Just made artichokes this way last night and will never make them any other way! I wanted artichokes that were flavorful enough not to need an additional dip and I was amazed at how the flavors completely infused the entire thing. My guests were very impressed. Thanks!

I just bought 2 gigantic artichokes, (2/$3.00) and popped these babies in the oven, according to Chef John's expert instructions. The aroma while roasting is almost intoxicating and so delicious. We really did, enjoy these. Thanks, Chef John.

Firstly, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting your recipes. I am a huge fan. I had never cooked anything other than my staple diet (Indian) and I was actually appalled by the idea of cooking without many spices. But thanks to you, I have started trying out a lot of new and different recipes and I am loving other cuisines. I tried artichokes for the first time ever after watching this video. It was lip-smackingly-delicious (a term my husband used!). I mashed the roasted garlic clove with olive oil and mayonnaise to make a simple dip. And I will be buying artichokes every time I shop my groceries. Thanks again. P.S. Your how NOT to roast artichoke video was awesome! ;)

i'm 41 and this was the first time i've cooked an artichoke or eaten one. Honestly this has to be one of the most boring foods that ive ever tasted in my life . I simply don't understand why anyone would eat this product